New Delhi: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on April 3 said it has discovered gigantic oil reserves, West of the Vasai gas field, off the Mumbai coast.

The Vasai West is estimated to contain 240 million barrels of in-place oil plus oil- equivalent gas, a company statement said.

"ONGC made six new discoveries, at Vasai West (oil and gas) in Western offshore, GS- 49 (gas) and GS-KW (oil and gas) in Krishna Godavari offshore, Chinnewala Tibba (gas) in Rajasthan, Laipling-gaon (oil and gas) and Banamali (oil) both in Assan," it said.

Laipling-gaon is estimated to contain 100 million barrels of in-place oil reserves.

At Chinnewala Tibba, testing indicates presence of sweet gas, with more than 7,000 Kcal/m calorific value, against usual range of 1,250 to 3,100 Kcal/m in other gas finds in Rajasthan.

ONGC's crude production in 2002-03 crossed the 26 million tonne mark, an increase of 1.3 million tonnes over the production in 2001-02.

"The increase came mainly from ONGC's prime asset, the Mumbai high field, thanks to the re-development projects launched in 2001," the release said.

The company achieved highest-ever production and sales of natural gas, 24.3 billion cubic metre and 19.5 billion cubic metre respectively. Production of 3.8 million tonnes of value-added products – petrochemical feedstock, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), naphtha and natural gas liquids, kerosene – also reached all-time high levels.

PTI